Call it Carnival or Mardi Gras.

The days leading up to fat Tuesday have been turning the social order upside down for a long time.

The low can rise to become the high.

The powerless can criticize the powerful.

And everybody celebrates together when you're all drunk, everyone's equal.

Coming up, we'll hear how they celebrate in the Balkans and in the best country of Spain and France.

You just have to explode yourself and just let it go.

Get an insider's take on what's special about being Sicilian.

The more you love someone, the more nicknames you use.

Friends from Sicily will explain what sets their island culture apart from the rest of Italy.

And a Harvard professor recommends classic works from around the world for a little vicarious traveling.

I think people have a hunger for just basking in the pleasures of a great work of literature.

Come along for the fun of it in the hour ahead. It's travel with Rick Steves.

Sicilians have a reputation. In just a bit, truth my Sicilian friends explain how they distinguished themselves from the rest of Italy and take pride in their lively culture.

And David Demrash from the Institute of World Literature at Harvard returns to recommend some of his favorite titles for traveling back in time and around the world.

That's all in the hour ahead on today's travel with Rick Steves.

Let's start with a look at the Mardi Gras and Carnival celebrations going on in Basque Country.

The costumes and street parties are vary from town to town.

As one of the oldest cultures in Europe, the Basques include some interesting public festivities in the days leading up to the fasting period of Lent.

Traditions that sometimes go back further than anyone can remember.

For a peek at how they do Carnival in Basque Country, we're joined by Claire Loyag.

She's from Hasparin in the French Basque Country and Augustine Sarisa lives in San Sebastian on the Spanish side of the border. Welcome, Claire and Augustine.

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